COMPANY NEWS

COMPANY NEWS; 800 Workers Locked Out By Staley

By LOUIS UCHITELLE

Published: June 29, 1993

Nearly 800 production workers have been locked out at the A. E. Staley Manufacturing Company's huge corn processing plant in Decatur, Ill., halting a struggle in which the company imposed new contract terms and the workers responded by working to rule, hoping to slow production sufficiently to get the company to the bargaining table.

The lockout began early Sunday, when the overnight shift was told to leave the plant. Staley officials yesterday accused the workers of sabotage in recent weeks that had made normal plant operation impossible. But leaders of the Allied Industrial Workers of America, representing Staley workers, said that during nine months of slowdown, "there had not been one reprimand for sabotage."

Whatever the case, Staley's management said the lockout would continue. "We can run this plant indefinitely with management personnel and temporary replacements," said J. Patrick Mohan, Staley's executive vice president. He said 70 people had been brought in from Staley's headquarters in Decatur and from Staley plants elsewhere to help the regular supervisors run the operation, which processes corn into products like corn oil and sweeteners. Unusual Strife

The lockout at the refinery-like factory, which covers 400 acres near downtown Decatur, came after 10 days in which there had been unusual strife. On June 16, production workers suddenly walked off the job and stayed off for several shifts to protest the dismissal of a worker, who was later reinstated. The National Labor Relations Board ruled last week against Staley in a case brought before the board. And on Saturday, nearly 4,000 workers staged a protest rally in Decatur.

Aside from Staley workers, the rally drew coal miners who are on strike in southern Illinois, utility workers who have been locked out at an Illinois power company and workers from Caterpillar Inc., where a slowdown similar to the one at Staley has been under way for more than a year. The Caterpillar slowdown involves plants in half a dozen Midwest cities, including Decatur.

The 780 Staley workers and the 14,000 Caterpillar production employees, represented by the United Automobile Workers, call their tactic an "in-plant strategy." After contracts expired at Caterpillar in 1991 and at Staley late last year, the companies insisted on concessions that the unions rejected. But rather than strike and risk losing their jobs to newly hired replacements, the workers stayed on the job, hoping to slow production sufficiently to force the companies to bargain.

Instead, the companies unilaterally imposed their contract terms. At Caterpillar, the U.A.W. tried a strike for five months but called it off in April of last year -- shifting to the slowdown tactic -- after Caterpillar began to recruit replacements. Pending Legislation

The Caterpillar and Staley labor disputes have drawn national attention because of a bill endorsed by President Clinton and now before Congress that would prohibit companies from hiring permanent replacements for strikers. Unions have sought the legislation to make strikes easier at companies like Caterpillar and Staley. The House has approved the bill and the Senate is likely to vote next month.

Senate Republicans have promised a filibuster to kill the bill, but even if it were to pass, it would not apply to the lockout that started at Staley on Sunday. In a lockout, a company can hire temporary replacements to keep operations going, but not permanent ones.

The major issues at Staley involve work rules rather than wages, which average more than $13 an hour -- high for Illinois. In particular, Staley's workers have objected to the company's decision to go to 12-hour daily shifts from eight-hour shifts. This has reduced overtime, and workers say their health and private lives have been affected by so long a daily shift. The company says the changes are necessary to be competitive.

Photo: Nearly 800 workers have been locked out at the the A. E. Staley Manufacturing Company's corn processing plant in Decatur, Ill., during a struggle over a new contract. At a rally yesterday, Lindsee Havener stood with her father, Marty, who has worked at Staley for 18 years. (Associated Press)